New Delhi, Feb 2 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to grant anticipatory bail to two chartered accountants in a money laundering investigation linked to a Rs 640 crore cyber fraud case.

Justice Girish Kathpalia dismissed the pre-arrest bail applications by Bhaskar Yadav and Ashok Kumar Sharma.

In the 22-page judgement, Justice Kathpalia said there was an "intricate mesh of laundering of money", and the need expressed by the Enforcement Directorate to interrogate the two accused in custody was not unreasonable.

"The accused/applicants, being skilled professionals, have allegedly crafted laundering of proceeds of crime across multiple layers, and to unearth the same, I find substance in the submission of learned counsel for DoE (Directorate of Enforcement) that custodial interrogation is much required," said the court.

"It is not a case of mere dealing in cryptocurrency, which per se is not a crime in this country and the liability of the accused persons is confined to paying tax on the crypto transactions. The present cases exhibit a vast intricate mesh of movement of money, fraudulently extracted out of pocket of gullible investors, who appear to be primarily belonging to middle class," it added.

The court stated that individual liberty was sacrosanct, but it could not brush aside the requirement to carry out a meaningful interrogation and investigation in the larger interest of the country's economy.

It noted there were fresh complaints of the accused allegedly assaulting the investigating officers, bribing the local police to settle cyber fraud complaints and destroying electronic evidence.

The court added that the role of the bank officials also had to be unearthed by the ED in its probe.

"It is hard earned money of the victims, whose only fault was that they wanted their money to multiply through investments. This basic desire (or call it human weakness) of theirs was exploited by some fraudsters, alluring them to invest in various schemes, which were actually fraudulent," observed the court.

"There is no material on the basis whereof this court can satisfy itself that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused/applicants are not guilty of the offences they are charged with and/or they are not likely to commit any offence while on bail. Therefore, both these anticipatory bail applications are dismissed," it concluded.

The money laundering probe stems from two FIRs filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police that were registered to probe charges of cyber fraud to the tune of Rs 640 crore generated through betting, gambling, part-time jobs and phishing scams, the ED has earlier said in a statement.

As per the agency, the money of gullible people was “siphoned off” by layering funds cheated from them through more than 5,000 “mule” Indian bank accounts and subsequently uploaded on PYYPL, a UAE-based payment platform.

Part of the “cyber fraud money” was withdrawn in cash in Dubai through debit and credit cards issued by various Indian banks, it said.

According to the probe agency, the alleged scam was being run through a “nexus” of certain CAs, company secretaries and crypto traders who worked in tandem to launder the proceeds of crime. PTI ADS ADS KVK KVK

Rs 640 crore cyber fraud: anticipatory bail denied to two CAs; custodial interrogation sought amid alleged laundering and evidence tampering. Anticipatory bail was refused to two chartered accountants in a money laundering probe connected to a Rs 640 crore cyber fraud; the court found an intricate, multilayered laundering scheme allegedly orchestrated by skilled professionals and held that custodial interrogation was necessary to probe transactions, bank officials' roles, alleged assault on investigators, bribery of police and destruction of electronic evidence.